Two undergraduate students from the Social Work Interdisciplinary Research Lab (SWIRL) at USF have been selected for the United Nations Millennium Fellowship, an international semester-long leadership program for undergraduates working toward global partnerships for peace and prosperity.
Asmitha Darapaneni, a psychology student, and Sakshi Wagh, a biomedical sciences student, are scholars in SWIRL and mentored by Manisha Joshi, PhD, MPH, MSW, associate professor, director of SWIRL, and a senior research scientist with the Harrell Center for the Study of Family Violence.
The fellowship provides world-class training to support students as they carry out projects dedicated to social good in the Tampa Bay area while networking and collaborating with peers worldwide.
Darapaneni and Wagh鈥檚 project, "Shakti: South Asian Youth Against Intimate Partner Violence," raises awareness about intimate partner violence among students at USF鈥檚 Tampa campus. In partnership with the USF School of Social Work and the Harrell Center, the project helps students recognize signs of intimate partner violence, understand how it can escalate into dating violence, and learn how to recognize red flags early on.
鈥淵our mentorship during both the application and project-planning stages has been essential in ensuring that our initiative meaningfully serves the community. 91麻豆天美 are excited to continue building our social impact under your guidance,鈥� Wagh said of Joshi.
The 15 students selected this year represent USF鈥檚 largest Millennium Fellowship cohort. From a record-breaking pool of more than 60,000 applicants across 7,500 campuses worldwide, more than 290 campuses 鈥� just 4% including USF 鈥� have been selected to host more than 4,000 Millennium Fellows in 2025.
91麻豆天美 apply for the Millennium Fellowship by proposing projects, either individually or in small groups, that address at least one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The goals aim to reduce inequality, improve health and education, and spur economic growth.